Our patrol last night was quiet, no boats ever seem to come on our days on, only on our days off when we're meant to be catching up on sleep, hence the slight sleep deprivation starting to occur. The wind was still strong so we took greater care but still patrolled and watched. While we had nothing, we had a report of a boat landing in the south. The Search and Rescue (SAR) teams also had to conduct a search for two people reported as falling overboard from that boat. Luckily they found them.
Yesterday we were approached by a local man who spoke a rather old-fashioned French. He told us that the Greek minister for migrants has just decreed that everyone arriving on the island must stay on the island. We assume that means while their asylum application is processed and they are either given asylum or deported. That is going to be VERY unpopular here in this small town with only 60 permanent residents. Apparently the mayor of Mytilini (under whose jurisdiction Skala falls) has stated that the local schools which are currently closed for the holidays will have to be reopened to house the 10-15 who will be assigned to the village when they come. One of the camps on the island, the one that used to house unaccompanied minors, has recently closed and the other two are becoming overcrowded with people still arriving, but the very slow asylum procedure means that people aren't leaving.
In addition he informed us that it is illegal (and has been for a year) to help transport or otherwise provide aid to refugees/migrants/people of concern (POCs) (as they are now called) to "install" themselves. Proactiva (the other team) were prosecuted in October (we are not sure of the full details) All in all we were told that it's going to cause bad feeling towards us if we help them ashore. My feeling is that no matter how strong people's feelings, a community of fishermen would be fairly sympathetic to those plucking people from the sea. However I could be wrong. The man did say that we may be seen with a slightly less welcoming eye from now on.
This article explains a bit of what is happening and the possibility that Erdogan may open the gates if he isn't given what was promised by the EU. I recommend reading it. It is far more articulate than I can be:
The fact that Syrians in the camps are considering returning to Syria rather than stay in the camps is fairly horrifying. While transferring migrants the other day to the coastguard boat one of them asked us how many hours they would be in the camp. Neither Adam nor I had the heart to destroy his jubilation at being in Europe, by telling him the truth.
Harsh, paradoxical realities - thanks for your honesty! xx N
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